Geography
Latitude and Longitude
By Nick Pignatore
What is Geography?
 Geography is the study of physical
things and cultural things found on
earth.
 Geo means “Earth”
 Graphy means “to write or describe”
Five Themes of Geography
 Location
 Place
 Movement
 Human-Environment Interaction
 Regions
Latitude
 A set of imaginary
lines that circle the
earth to help find
locations
 Lines run from east
to west
 Lines of latitude are
also called parallels
 Measured in degrees
North and South of
the Equator
Longitude
 A set of imaginary
lines that circle the
earth to help find
locations
 Lines run from north
to south
 Lines of longitude
are also called
meridians
 Measured in degrees
East and West of
the Prime Meridian
Similarities and Differences:
Latitude and Longitude
Special Lines
 Equator
 Prime Meridian
 International Date Line
 Tropic of Cancer
 Tropic of Capricorn
Lat./Long. Relationship
Analogy
Location
 Absolute Location: Uses latitude and
longitude to indicate a specific point on
earth. Example: Lincoln, NE is at 45
deg. North, 110 deg. West
 Relative Location: Tells where
something is in relation to something
else. Example: Salt Creek is near
Lincoln
If you can trace two lines…
 …You can find ANY location on the
globe!
 Find the absolute location of New York
City
 What is the relative location of
California?
 What is at 40N,105W?
Challenge:
 Next to Pizza Hut is to Relative Location as
Coordinates are to _________?
 45 degrees North is to 45 degrees South as
50 degrees West is to ________?
Bonus!!
What is this famous
landmark and what
are its coordinates?
Review
 Latitude runs east-west but is measured
north-south.
 Longitude runs north-south but is
measured east-west.
 The Equator and Prime Meridian are
VITAL reference points.
 What is the difference between
absolute and relative location?